Get a Wyse 80386 box w/SCO Xenix?

[James Van Artsdalen]

There have been several queries as to what 386 hardware to use.  One system I
like, and bought, is the PC's Ltd. 386/16.  This is a 16MHz 80386 system with
no wait states.  Note I mean *no* wait states: it uses purely static RAM with
no memory refresh to achieve *the* fastest processor times of any 16MHz
machine.  This isn't one of those companies that use interleaved memory,
caches, or other hand waving to fraudulently claim zero wait states.  Some of
the 16MHz caching systems might come close, but the 386/16 is faster.

The machine comes in a standard chassis with one parrellel and two serial
ports.  A 1.2M floppy disk drive, WD1003 floppy/hard disk controller and
1MHz of RAM round out the minimum configuration, which sells for $3099.
There are five 16 bit slots and two 8 bit slots.  There are eight cut-outs on
the back pannel, as the system RAM board takes up the width of a normal
card within the system, and the cut-out behind it is taken by the serial/
parrellel card to get all of the connectors out.  The RAM card holds 6meg
of the static RAM.  More can be added using regular DRAM boards on the system
bus: the DRAM is accessed at 8MHz though, and must have the refresh turned on.
I bought my system as the base unit but with 1 extra megabyte of RAM, and used
a spare EGA board and hard disk drive to get it going.  I have since added
two more megabytes (unix is a RAM hog).  A realistic monochrome system
certainly runs under $4000 with 1meg of RAM and a fair hard disk.

The system does not come with DOS.  It does have the setup program in ROM.
This is the easiest setup program to use I've seen: it is entirely
menu drive in the style of Lotus 1-2-3.  You don't need the dreaded IBM AT
diagnostics disk.  The hard disk low-level format is not in ROM (where a stray
crashed program could cause real trouble): it comes on a floppy disk if you get
a hard disk.  Any Western Digital lowform program should work as it is a
standard WD1003/WA2 board.

The system comes with a "Smart Vu" pannel (however they spell it).  This is
a four segment alphanumeric LED that is used to print error messages during
POST testing and let you know what the disk drive is doing one the system
is running.  The POST messages are scrolled English-text messages that are
easily read: you can use the machine as a file server without a video board
if desired (a setup option tells the BIOS to boot even if the keyboard and
video board aren't present).  There is the standard disk access and power LEDs,
and the standard useless key lock.

The big deal in my opinion is the one year service contract that comes free with
the system.  If it breaks, someone from Honeywell/Bull comes to your site the
next day and fixes it.  This even means things like BIOS replacements.  PC's
Ltd has made tremendous strides in compatibility and quality since this
program started: not even IBM or Compaq offer this kind of warranty.  In
addition there is a 30 day money-back guarantee I believe.

The drawbacks I see are mainly expensive RAM and potential coming changes.
RAM costs $500/megabyte.  This isn't so bad up to three or four megabytes,
as most other systems require you buy another board at some point, but still...
Secondly, I noticed that PC's Ltd. recently changed their 286 machine
quite a bit.  This could presage changes to the 386/16 in the future: I
certainly hope not.  The two changes that caught my eye were that (1) they are
now using the Phoenix BIOS, not the in-house one and (2) the Smart-Vu is
gone.  As for #1, Phoenix isn't that great, and the in-house BIOS was much
better.  Given the serious problems Phoenix has (Oracle for instance), I cannot
imagine why this change was made.  I'm certain they made Phoenix fix this
particular bug (PC's Ltd does *NOT* want to pay Honeywell to come replace
your BIOS for you), but nonetheless it was a step backwards, and they knew it.
Who knows what happened to the setup program.  For #2, the Smart-Vu is
really useful when you've swapping cards around: you can always catch error
messages no matter what the video monitor is doing.  This probably fell to
the onslaught of accountants.  The 386/16 has bigger margins, but I still
wonder if the clock isn't ticking for the Smart-Vu.

PC's Ltd. sells only directly.  You call them to place the order, and the
machine is then built to spec. in the factory, tested for four hours (unless
it's assembled too late in the day, in which case it runs overnight), and
shipped directly to you.  There are 800 numbers for sales, customer service,
technical service, and returns (everything as far as I know).  They were
extremely well organized when I called (unlike in years past).

I'm sure I left out something someone wants to know: feel free to mail
queries.
-- 
James R. Van Artsdalen    ...!uunet!utastro!bigtex!james     "Live Free or Die"
Work: 512-328-0282 Home: 323-2675; 110 Wild Basin Rd. Ste #230, Austin TX 78746